# DIY Ferulic and Vitamin C Serum



## divadoll (Oct 10, 2010)

*15% vitamin C + E + ferulic acid serum with Jojoba*

1 tsp L-Ascorbic Acid (from Lotioncrafter.com)
1 tsp Sea Kelp Bioferment (from Skinactives.com)
1 tsp Jojoba Oil
3 tsp Distilled water
1/4 tsp Ferulic Acid (from Skinactives.com)
1/4 tsp Vitamin E Oil (from capsules or bottle)
1/4 tsp ice cold Vodka or Witch Hazel
 

1) First dissolve the ferulic acid in the vodka in one shotglass.
2) Combine the SKB, vit E and jojoba oil in a second shotglass.
3) Quickly mix the L-ascorbic acid into the water in a third shotglass and combine with the other 2 shotglasses.

Store in a dark closed dropper bottle in a cool but not necessarily cold place.
Shake before using each time.

***Be sure that each phase is completely dissolved before combining all the phases together.*** Your serum should be a milky thin fluid, and it is normal to have an oily layer on top. Shake well before using each time to disperse the oil and water phases.

The pH of any L-ascorbic acid serum should be less than 3.5 in order to be absorbed by the skin. If your serum's pH rises above 3.5 or turns yellow or darkens, throw it away since it has oxidized and is no longer effective.
 

I found this DIY recipe online.  I've just bought the ingredients that I was missing to make this when my stuff arrives.  Anyone try this yet?


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## Andi (Oct 11, 2010)

sounds like a good recipe, I saw this one online but wanted to try a more basic one first where I donÂ´t have to buy that many ingredients.


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## Geek2 (Oct 11, 2010)

Thanks for the recipe! I've always wanted to make my own products but never have.


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## divadoll (Oct 11, 2010)

> Originally Posted by *Andi* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
> 
> sounds like a good recipe, I saw this one online but wanted to try a more basic one first where I donÂ´t have to buy that many ingredients.



I think the key is to get the pH of the serum to stay at 3.5 and no higher.  It absorbs into the skin then and is not as effective at higher and too much lower may become an irritant.


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## Andi (Oct 11, 2010)

> Originally Posted by *divadoll* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 true. Let us know how it works for you after youÂ´ve tried it for a few weeks


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## ivette (Oct 19, 2010)

i didn't know there was a diy recipe with ferulic acid. thats great. the one thats on the market now is very expensive (over $100.00 dollars for like 1oz)


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## divadoll (Oct 19, 2010)

> Originally Posted by *ivette* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
> 
> i didn't know there was a diy recipe with ferulic acid. thats great. the one thats on the market now is very expensive (over $100.00 dollars for like 1oz)


 I know how much mark-up on skincare and cosmetics can be.  I started by attempting to create my HG cream Shiseido Bio Performance Advanced Super Revitalizer.  I loved it for 15 years but at $100+ for 50ml, I thought it was now time to find an alternative.

In my late night ordering of ingredients (I should really stop online shopping when I'm sleepy), I ended up getting Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate instead of Ascorbic Acid.  Tetra is an ester-c and much more stable than the ascorbic acid.  It doesn't do the same thing as ascorbic acid however, it doesn't exfoliate and it is oil soluable rather than water soluable.   I ended up re-vamping the formula into something almost entirely different.  We shall see how my new formula works over the next couple of weeks before I post it.


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## reesesilverstar (Dec 29, 2010)

How has this formula been working for you? Or did I miss the update thread?

I'm interested in making this.


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## divadoll (Dec 31, 2010)

The ferulic acid isn't supposed to go with the Tetra-c so I didn't make it the way I had planned.  I did end up making a different cream with dimethicone, cyclomethicone, rosewater, macademia nut oil, tetra-c, hyaluronic acid and gelmaker.  I use it at night and it is working like a nice moisturizer for me.  I don't have visible wrinkles so I can't say it's making me look younger but I haven't broke out or anything and it feels nice. 

Let me know if you decided to try the vitamin c one.  I wanted to use up what I had tho so I can't really order any more ingredients right now. The tetra-c is really expensive compared to regular vitamin c.


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## ivette (Jan 6, 2011)

cool skin recipe


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## reesesilverstar (Jan 6, 2011)

> Originally Posted by *divadoll* /img/forum/go_quote.gif
> 
> The ferulic acid isn't supposed to go with the Tetra-c so I didn't make it the way I had planned.  I did end up making a different cream with dimethicone, cyclomethicone, rosewater, macademia nut oil, tetra-c, hyaluronic acid and gelmaker.  I use it at night and it is working like a nice moisturizer for me.  I don't have visible wrinkles so I can't say it's making me look younger but I haven't broke out or anything and it feels nice.
> 
> Let me know if you decided to try the vitamin c one.  I wanted to use up what I had tho so I can't really order any more ingredients right now. The tetra-c is really expensive compared to regular vitamin c.


 Awww, I wish you had used the ferulic acid. That's the ingredient that sparked my interest  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I read that hyaluronic acid is supposed to make skin really supple and moisturized but then I read it damages skin cells by making them swell... Clearly, I need to research it more.


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## divadoll (Jan 6, 2011)

I think there are many companies now that have jumped on the hyaluronic acid band wagon.  Shiseido was one of the pioneers in this ingredient.  I really loved Shiseido but it is very expensive and I thought I can dupe it.  I have given my creams to my older friends and they love it.  The combination of hyaluronic and the silicons make a super moisturizer.

I have bought some l-ascorbic so when I get it, I'll make the vitamin c serum.  I have all of the remaining ingredients so I will try it and post to update.


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## divadoll (Jan 24, 2011)

I finally received my ingredients and made the serum.  It is a runny serum and it separates in the bottle so you'll have to give it a good shake before every use.  I didn't make it in 3 shot glasses.  I made it in the 2 containers I usually use to make my creams.  I used propylene glycol to dissolve the ferulic acid instead of witch hazel and I used my mini mixer to make sure it is well dissolved.  I also used my mixer to combine the sea kelp bioferment which was kind of difficult to mix and break up because its like clear jelly.  The vitamin c, I added last.  Gave it a quick mix and poured it inot a tiny pump bottle.  I didn't have a dropper bottle or an airless pump bottle but it only makes just over 1oz of product so it's not a big deal. 

On first use, I exfoliated well before hand, you can feel a little bit of a sting to the serum on your face.  It dries quickly enough.  I didn't wait for 20 minutes before application like I've read elsewhere because I don't have the time.  You can apply a small amount firstly and wait a couple of minutes and do it again.  The pH of your face should have adjusted when the first layer of serum went on.  My serum measured at about pH of 2.5.  This is my 3rd day of use.  Nothing adverse has happened to my skin so all is going well.  Its too early to make any observations about the texture change on my skin.  I'll update in about a week.


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## reesesilverstar (Jan 24, 2011)

Good stuff! Keep us posted! I"m really interested in making this. I wonder if I could substitute rosehips for my vit. c source rather than the l-ascorbic...

But keep us posted how your skin likes it.

Are you using niacinamide as one of your ingredients? I've been researching it, but I'm not sure how it'll interact with vit c and ferulic...


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## divadoll (Jan 24, 2011)

I remembered you were waiting, Reese so I posted an update so quickly.  No, I've not added any niacinamide to it.  I've not really used it for anything at all yet although I have some kicking around.  It was one of those things you put in your shopping cart and wonder why you have it when it arrives in the mail... I eventually forgot I had it until I was looking for something else.  I'll post something when I find one that is interesting.

I used it exactly as listed in the recipe except for the propylene glycol subbing for witch hazel and thats because I was dying to try it out as a solvent.  I'm not certain that rosehip oil will have sufficient levels of vitamin c to have the desired effect.  L-ascorbic is pure vitamin c so I think you need something stronger than rosehip oil.  You can see about boiling rosehips if you have a ton of it and extract the liquid from it.  I don't know how you'll get the pH down to below 3.5 using an oil.  I'm also not using it in conjunction with any retinol products like retin-a like so it won't have dramatic effects.


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## reesesilverstar (Jan 25, 2011)

Oooooh, ok, ok! Thanks alot, Diva! You're too sweet  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I'll order some of the l-ascorbic and propylene glycol on my next order then. Thanks, again


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## divadoll (Jan 25, 2011)

I'd swap the propylene glycol with witch hazel which is more versatile because you can use it for a toner unless you have some other things you have that you need a solvent for...

I was thinking I'd use it for my licorice root powder and my reishi mushroom powders.  You can make a wicked toner from witch hazel, rose water and glycerine.


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## reesesilverstar (Jan 26, 2011)

Cool, I'll just use my witch hazel then. I have some Licorice root laying around too. I honestly have used witch hazel and rose water in 2 separate toners. It never occurred to me that I should/could combine them :s... Thanks for the idea.


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## divadoll (Jan 26, 2011)

I've been using that witchhazel/rose water toner for a while now and it is amazing and super easy to make.  I use 1/3 witch hazel to 2/3 rosewater.  I've also used other hydrosols other than rosewater as well... it worked just as well.  It is wonderful if you cleanse your face with olive oil or OCM  in combination with the toner.  WICKED STUFF!!! 

I mix licorice root for my Shiseido Bio Performance Super Revitalizer clone that I've made.  I some times just add it with some co-enzyme Q10 in an easy DIY silicone cream and my friends love it!

I don't have accurate measurements because I just eyeball it all...

This makes a simple but very moisturizing facial skin cream.  This makes about 200ml, you'd have to calculate the actually measurements.  Whip the solution til it turns creamy and opaque

75% hydrosol or water   150ml

1/4 tsp hyaluronic acid (it has to dissolve in water and it takes a while so I whip it to get it moving)

1/4 teaspoon Gelmaker   - dissolve the Gelmaker in the water before adding the oils.  It saves on the extra whipping because Gelmaker takes longer to dissolve in oil.  whipping it will make sure it all gets distributed and so does the HA

7.5% dimethicone        15ml

7.5% cyclomethicone   15ml

5% jojoba oil                10ml

5% sweet almond oil     10ml

5% shea oil                  10ml

to this... I add (you can add whatever you want)

1/4 tsp licorice root - mine is powder

2-3 capsules of coenzyme Q10 - 200mg ones or which ever is the largest concentraction you can find. 

1/4 tsp niacinamide

whip to incorporate into the cream.  I put it into a small sandwich bag so I can pipe it into a pump bottle, you don't need a funnel that way  /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

***Gelmaker works best if the oil is less than 45% of your formulation.  It doesn't whip up smoothly if you have too much oil.  If this is a problem, add more water before thinking about adding more gelmaker.  It is too runny, then add more gelmaker but a little goes a long long ways.

You can also use any combination of oils you want.  I do find that Shea Oil leaves your face super soft especially when used at night.


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